14 DAY TRIAL // After seeing the OnePlus alive and kicking, there’s one big question that everyone seems to be having these days: is it enough for OnePlus to copy the camera approach used by Apple, the features and certain software UI parts that you typically find on an iPhone to truly build a smartphone that makes no compromises?
To figure out the answer, we put the two to an in-depth camera test in different conditions and scenarios, using their auto settings and HDR on where it was needed, but with slight brightness adjustments in certain cases. The photo test was performed on the same day, with the same light, and in the same conditions to correctly emphasize the differences between the two.
Technically speaking, OnePlus already has a slight advantage, at least on paper, thanks to its brighter lens (1.7 vs. 1.8) and the bigger sensor (1/2.8 vs. 1/3). Furthermore, photo resolution is bigger in the case of the OnePlus, so 16 megapixels should theoretically translate to better quality than the 12 megapixels offered by the iPhone.
On the other hand, the electronic stabilization on the OP5 could be worse than the optical sibling on the iPhone, though Google has already proved with its Pixel that such an approach isn’t necessary a setback if software optimizations are done right.
| iPhone 7 Plus | OnePlus 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 12MP 4032x3024 px | 16MM 4608x3456 px |
| Aspect ratio | 4:3 | 4:3 |
| Sensor size | 1/3" | 1/2.8" |
| Aperture | f/1.8 | f/1.7 |
| Focus and stabilization | Phase detection autofocus, OIS, 2x optical zoom |
Phase detection autofocus, EIS, 1.6 optical zoom |
TEST #1 – BUILDINGS
1. Both cameras take a pretty good picture, with slight differences here and there. The iPhone 7 Plus takes a more natural shot as compared to the OP5 which uses a yellow filter that alters the colors as you see them with the naked eye. Having the sunlight directly on the building, the sensor of the iPhone camera measures color temperature correctly and thus managed to achieve better white balance.
The OP5, however, fails when it comes to preserving colors, and it’s easily noticeable that in the lower part of the photo it clearly lost the battle with the iPhone, with Apple’s model offering colors for the roof of the house that are substantially closer to the natural ones.
The clear sky has the correct settings on the iPhone, while the OP5 makes it look gray and artificial. There are fine details in both cases, though it’s worth mentioning that the iPhone offers extra sharpness thanks to better contrast. Albeit the iPhone wins this round, OP5 performed pretty well and this why it’s pretty close to its rival.
The iPhone 7 Plus receives 9 points for its performance, followed by the OP5 with 8 points.
2. With the focus point on the building in the park, the iPhone makes the subject stand out thanks to better contrast. The outlines are sharper, and the correct colors combined with fine details make the iPhone the winner of this test. The roof of the house looks much more natural than in the OnePlus 5 shot where the extra amount of light substantially alters colors.
The OP5 unnecessarily increases subject brightness, so it mixes brighter and darker tones, with the lack of contrast also having an impact on detail sharpness. The background looks nicer and more natural in the photo taken with Apple’s device, while the OP5 not only that increased brightness, but it did it up to the point where everything looks pretty bad.
The OP5 did worse this time and got just 6 points, while Apple won the test with 8 points.
3. With a 2.5x zoom and pretty far from the subject, the OnePlus 5 manages to preserve natural colors after moving the focus point to the trees at the bottom of the building. The iPhone 7 Plus with its dual cameras and the telephoto lens fails to do so, altering water and tree colors.
OP5 uses electronic image stabilization to lock the focus point, so the telephoto 20MP lens seems to really come in handy, while the Apple device, despite having optical image stabilization, impacts subject clarity and sharpness.
When it comes to 100 percent cropping, the Apple smartphone is the one keeping natural colors and finer details in photos 1 and 2, while its Chinese rival achieves sharper details, offering the better contrast in the third photo. Noise is visible in both shots.
OnePlus wins the test here and gains 9 points, while the iPhone is pretty far behind with 7 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 8 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 7.6 |
TEST #2 – CAROUSEL
1. Early in the morning with the sunlight right on our subject, the OP5 gets the more natural shot this time. OP5 goes for 1/2500 exposure time and ISO 200, which makes it possible to obtain well-balanced colors and a natural look of the sky, in turn giving it a fair advantage.
With the auto settings on and the focus point on the subject, the iPhone 7 Plus goes for the shorter exposure time of 1/3200 and ISO 20, which leads to a darker shot and colors. The yellow filter is pretty noticeable, which obviously affects colors in a fairly dramatic way.
OnePlus 5 beats the iPhone in this test with 9 points to 7.5.
2. The carousel in the park looks a lot more natural in the case of the OP5 shot, and when we say a lot, we really mean it. Colors look very natural given the light conditions, while the iPhone thinks the amount of light should be reduced, which means we got a dark photo with over-saturated colors. At the bottom of the carousel, there’s an increased amount of yellow in the iPhone 7 Plus, and needless to say, it shouldn’t be there.
The reduced amount of light in the background makes the details lack the clarity in the case of the iPhone shot, so overall, the OP5 offers the better picture this time. What’s worth mentioning is that both shots have overexposed areas, but the iPhone 7 Plus makes them more visible because of the increased contrast and its already famous problems with HDR photos.
OnePlus 5 again wins the round with 9 points, while the iPhone is second with 8 points.
3. In this test, both cameras offered well-balanced colors, correct white balance, and fine details, which in the end lead to pretty natural shots. There’s a tie this time, even though the OP5 makes the sky look darker, as compared to the iPhone which appears to go for a more natural look. Both photos, however, are equally good.
Since it’s a tie, the two phones got 9 points each.
4. After several tries, the iPhone 7 Plus reduces color intensity substantially in the shadow of the trees, while the OP5 preserves the correct colors. Overall, the properly adjusted colors make the OnePlus shot better, while the iPhone 7 Plus lacks the amount of yellow and makes the photo look kind of artificial. As far as details are concerned, the OP5 wins this round thanks to its 16MP camera, with iPhone’s 12MP shooter lacking the sharp details of its rival.
In the cropping test, there’s noise in both shots, but OP5 offers the better colors and sharp details, as compared to the iPhone 7 Plus that returns the opposite results.
The iPhone 7 Plus is pretty disappointing this time with 6.5 points, while the OP5 shows Apple how it’s done with 9 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7.7 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 9 |
TEST #3 – NATURE
1. With the focus point on the tree, the iPhone 7 Plus uses the f/1.8 aperture for extra light on the subject, but on the other hand, reduces colors saturation. The OP5 uses the f/1.7 aperture to get the better contrast, but this time increases color intensity. The in-depth blur effect is better in the case of the iPhone.
What’s worth mentioning is that the blur effect on the OP5 is more pixelated, but overall, it takes the better, nicer shot with accurate colors and natural details.
This is why the iPhone 7 Plus gets only 6 points this time, while its rival scores better with 7 points.
2. Once again, the OP5 allowed more light to reach the sensor, so it offered a pretty well-balanced photo with accurate colors. On the other hand, the iPhone 7 Plus altered colors and generated a darker shot.
The clear sky has a more natural blue color in the OP5 photo, but the iPhone 7 Plus loses here because it affected the overall brightness of the image. Overall, it’s pretty clear the OP5 wins thanks to the better brightness and colors.
7.5 points go to the disappointing iPhone 7 Plus, while 9 points go to winner OP5.
3. With the focus point on the boat, neither of the two cameras manages to achieve similar results given the sunlight. iPhone 7 Plus increases contrast of the sky, while the OP5 preserves the natural look. The forest in the background looks dark, pretty much because it’s very far from the two cameras.
Because the two cameras have similar performance here, the difference is mainly made in the cropping test, where the OP5 offers fine details, with colors look good in both shots. In photos 2 and 3, the noise is pretty visible for both smartphones, but the OP5 is slightly ahead of its rival.
As a result, OP5 wins the test with 6 points, while the iPhone is close behind with 5 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 6.2 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 7.3 |
TEST #4 – FLOWERS
1. Colors of this flower bouquet are perfect in both photos. OP5, however, offers finer outlines for the subject, as compared to the iPhone 7 Plus picture where less sharp details are being used. What’s also worth mentioning is that the OP5 locked the focus point on the subject, while the iPhone used the focus point in the center of the picture, leading to slightly blurred areas in the rest of the pic.
The blurred background is similar in both photos, but the table has better colors in the OnePlus shot, as compared to the Apple device which tried to compensate for the sunlight and altered colors.
The OP5 wins the test with 9 points, while the iPhone is second with just 8 points.
2. This time, the iPhone 7 Plus increases color saturation, while the OP5 appears to offer the correct white balance. There are better outlines for the subject in the case of the OP picture, while the iPhone is missing this detail and the blurred background nearly covers the subject.
Again, the OP5 scores better with 8 points, followed by Apple’s model with 6 points.
3. OP5 correctly measures the color temperature, which leads to the proper white balance, natural colors and fine details. The slightly blurred background and the colors on the wooden fence look substantially better in the OP5 photo, while all details seem to be less natural in the iPhone shot.
OP5 offers stunning detail quality, while the iPhone seems pretty far behind in this regard, altering colors and reducing saturation for no clear reason. The details and colors in the cropping test look equally good in both shots this time.
The OP5 outclasses the iPhone 7 Plus with 9 points to 7.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8.6 |
TEST #5 – STATUES
1. With auto settings on, the iPhone 7 Plus goes for a yellow filter on the subject and the grass, while the OP5 keeps the better colors and natural look of the statue. The difference between the two shots is made by the correct white balance and the fine details in the OP5 shot.
OnePlus 5 scores a perfect 10 this time, while Apple is behind with 8 points.
2. With focus on the subject and auto settings, the OP5 offers better outlines on the subject, providing much better details and colors than the iPhone. Apple’s device somehow gets improperly balanced colors, with the subject getting a green tint that’s totally wrong. The background and the sky also look more natural in the OP5 shot, while the iPhone 7 Plus increases color saturation and makes everything look artificial.
When it comes to cropping, the OP5 wins the battle thanks to its details and colors, with the 16-megapixel camera offering better performance than the iPhone 7 Plus.
This obviously leads to well below expectations performance for Apple, who gets 7 points, while OnePlus wins the round with 9 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7.5 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 9.5 |
TEST #6 – FOOD
1. With indoor light, the fruit and vegetable plate looks very good in the iPhone shot, mostly thanks to correct white balance, which in turn provides natural colors for everything you can see. The OP loses in this regard, as it substantially reduced color intensity. The color difference is also pretty obvious in the case of the milk and beer bottles, where the OP5 reduced colors saturation.
The background also looks correct in the iPhone shot, while the OP5 increased brightness due to ISO 800 versus ISO 40 in the case of the Apple device.
As a result, the OP5 loses with 7 points, while Apple is close to perfection with 9 points.
2. In this test, the seafood plate looks much better in the OP shot, mostly thanks to the natural colors, while the iPhone makes the yellow color look more like orange. The OP got colors right even for the plate, while Apple made it look yellowish.
As far as details go, OnePlus is the winner of the round thanks to its 16MP camera, as it achieves better details than the 12MP camera of the iPhone.
In the end, OnePlus 5 is rewarded with 8 points, while the iPhone is close behind with 7 points.
3. With auto settings and focus on the subject, both cameras performed well this time and get fine details. When it comes to colors, the iPhone takes the better shot especially in the case of the plate, but it did reduce saturation for the steak. OP5 also offers the correct color for the plate, but the steak looks more yummy thanks to its vibrant colors. Details are pretty good in the cropping test, and so are the natural colors.
OnePlus 5 against gets a 10 for its performance, while iPhone 7 Plus receives 9 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 8.3 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8.3 |
TEST #7 – CARS
1. With auto settings and the focus point on the car, the OP5 uses a yellow filter on the entire picture, while the iPhone 7 Plus gets everything look just like it does in reality. The difference is mostly made by the correct white balance of the Apple device.
Both cameras offered good details and colors, but OnePlus made the car look a bit clearer and with extra sharpness, while the background has finer details.
This translates to 9 points for the OP5 and 8 points for the iPhone 7 Plus.
2. In the test with the yellow car parked, the iPhone goes for ISO 20, which allows the light to look a lot more natural than in the OP shot where ISO value is 320. Overall, both cameras achieve fine details and the background is properly adjusted to get the correct brightness in both cases. The reflections of the trees on the car look better in the iPhone shot.
For cropping, there’s nearly identical performance this time, but the iPhone wins thanks to more natural colors.
This means that the iPhone 7 Plus gets 8 points this time, while the OP5 is close with 7 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 8 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8 |
TEST #8 – BLACK & WHITE
1. In daylight with auto settings on, the iPhone keeps a proper balance between black and white thanks to its dedicated effect called Noir, with pretty good contrast. With dark tones more obvious, the iPhone 7 Plus takes a more artistic shot. OP5 with the same feature on and the black and white filter called Vogue from Google, goes for average contrast, which leads to results that are similar to the one of the iPhone.
OP5 increases brightness on the subject and makes the eyes stand out, as compared to the iPhone shot where the eyes are covered by the increased shadow. Overall, both photos were pretty good, so it’s a tie this time.
So both the iPhone and the OP5 got 9 points in this test.
2. iPhone 7 Plus gets the better contrast and the ship and the pirates stand out, with sharper details. The OP, on the other hand, lacks this good-looking contrast, with the mix of white and gray making everything look dull. The ship and the pirates use too much gray with mid tones, and this affects the overall look of the photo.
When it comes to cropping, both cameras offer the same fine details and reduced noise, though when it comes to the pirates shot, the OP5 increases noise and alters details.
Apple wins this test with 8 points, followed by OnePlus 5 with 7 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 8.5 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8 |
TEST #9 – PORTRAIT
1. With the subject in direct sunlight, the iPhone 7 Plus goes for 1/4400 exposure and ISO 20, which leads to increased contrast, though the over-saturated color of the T-shirt does not reflect the actual color. The OP5, on the other hand, goes for 1/2500 exposure time and ISO 160, which in turn leads to increased brightness with average contrast and better colors for the T-shirt, but still far from the real colors.
With extra brightness on the face, the OP achieves a good balance between lights and shadows, while Apple’s device increased the contrast and made the highlights look darker, with the face getting a red tint.
The background and the grass look natural in the OP shot, while the iPhone again increases contrast and color saturation. The OP also offers finer details, so overall, Apple’s model loses the test, with the exception of the T-shirt.
This means the OP5 receives 8.5 points, while the iPhone is again second with 6 points.
2. With the subject covered by shadow, both cameras offered the correct natural look of the sky, with the iPhone also preserving the natural appearance of the background. With subject in focus, the iPhone makes everything look more natural, while the OP5 goes for an orange filter that alters colors in a dramatic manner.
The T-shirt also looks better in the iPhone shot, as compared to the OP5 photo where an orange tint is again visible in several areas, including on the wooden fence behind the subject. Both cameras offer good detail quality, while the OP scores extra for background detail sharpness.
Overall, the iPhone 7 Plus gets the more natural shot, despite the extra noise versus the OP5 photo.
This leads us to 8 points for Apple and 6.5 points for OnePlus in this test.
3. In this low light portrait test, both cameras failed to get the correct white balance, so the background in the OP shot gets a blue tint, while the iPhone picked yellow. Thanks to extra brightness for the background, the subject has sharper outlines in the Apple photo, as compared to OP’s picture which features darker backgrounds and subject tonnes.
As a result, Apple wins the test with 7 points and OP5 comes next with 5 points.
4. When it comes to selfies, the OP5 is the clear winner thanks to its front-facing 16MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, which allows for better colors and finer details. iPhone 7 Plus lacks behind its rival due to the 7-megapixel camera and f/2.2, and this leads to darker tones and increased contrast.
Thanks to the 16MP camera, the OP5 also offers better detail quality in the cropping test, while colors look identical in both shots.
OnePlus wins the test with 9 points this time, outclassing the iPhone which only got 7 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8.6 |
TEST #10 – NIGHT
1. With the focus locked on the subject, the iPhone 7 Plus set exposure time to 1/15 seconds, which reduced brightness in order to preserve the colors of the logo. Thanks to the rainy weather, the green light creates some artistic reflections on the ground, and both cameras make them look pretty good, despite the super low light.
OP5, however, uses a different approach, with 1/50 seconds exposure time, which instead reduced brightness to preserve the green color of the logo. This makes the highlights to feature extra brightness, with the reflection on the ground also featuring increased contrast.
The difference between the two is made by the ISO, which in the case of the iPhone was set to 50. This reduces noise and preserves finer details, while the OP set ISO to 1250, which got exactly the opposite results. Again, the OP5 loses due to the badly optimized software processing, though this could be improved with future updates.
Apple is the leader in this test with 7 points, while OP is just a follower with 5 points.
2. With the focus point on the subject and at approximately 20 meters away from the camera, the iPhone was the only one that managed to lock the focus point correctly. There are overexposed areas and noise in both photos, though it’s more obvious in the OP shot.
When it comes to colors, the OP5 wins this time, while for cropping, the iPhone 7 Plus offers better details and colors. These are both altered in the OP shot due to the amount of noise.
This means the OP loses the round with 6 points, but Apple is slightly ahead with just 7 points.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 5.5 |
TEST #11 – COLORS
1. Even though both cameras set exposure time to 1/640 seconds, each tried a different approach, with automatic ISO settings configured to 20 on the iPhone and 200 on the OP5. The Apple device thus takes as nearly perfect shot thanks to the correct white balance, which in turns leads to well-balanced colors, but with some weak points when it comes to tree colors and the ship.
Thanks to the proper contrast, the iPhone 7 offers better details on the subject, with extra sharpness making everything look nice and natural.
The OP5 gets the better look for the ship and the trees, but there are overexposed parts at the top of the photo.
This makes the OP5 gets 9 points this time, while the iPhone is not far behind with 8 points.
2. The two cameras took identical shows with 100 percent natural colors. The background looks the same as well, with sharp outlines for the subject every time. When it comes to cropping, detail quality is impressive both times.
It’s a tie once again, with 9 points for each smartphone.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 8.5 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 9 |
THE BOTTOM LINE
Believe it or not, but the OnePlus 5 managed to outclass the iPhone, though it’s worth mentioning that Apple’s device offered good performance since it was launched last year, while today’s rival is a completely new model. In most cases, the correct white balance made the difference, though the extra pixels on the OP5 camera also came in handy.
This is once again the living proof that there is no reason not to offer more megapixels on the cameras, because in the end, you can get better shots with finer details, and this proves that OnePlus made the right call this time.
Thanks to its 16-megapixel shooter, the OP5 preserves details much better than the 12-megapixel unit on the iPhone 7 Plus.
What’s important to note is that for both tests, we took several shots with different focus points to take the best possible photo. Overall, we reached the conclusion that both cameras are super-advanced, though the OP5 outscored its rival, which is somewhat surprising given how praised the iPhone is for its camera.
In the end, Op5 offers stunning value for the money, which will certainly be a decisive factor in the future for new phone buyers. And while OnePlus more or less copied the iPhone, not the same thing can be said when it comes to the camera, where a much more affordable phone managed to win this difficult test. The student has become the master.
| iPhone 7 Plus | 7.6 |
|---|---|
| OnePlus 5 | 8.1 |
